***Loosely based on a true story of a couple of situations I've been in that I decided to put together for one larger story, but changed with some creative editing of what really happened.
***This story was posted last year but was removed for a rewrite for story improvements.
...
THE SALE
Alex was relieved to see he had finally gotten a good response for the furniture he was selling online. It had been nearly a month since he posted that listing of a recliner, a coffee table, two side tables, and two couches, one of which was a sofa bed. He was selling the furniture for his parents, who got new furniture and wanted to sell off their old stuff. They had no room in their garage to hold their old furniture, so he offered to keep it in his garage and sell it for them.
He chose to post the listing on the Facebook marketplace because, unlike other online commerce sites, he could at least see the profiles of those who were contacting him. If he was going to invite unknown people to his house, he wanted to at least get a good idea of who they were. He already had to turn down a few people who didn't have anything going on in their social media, which seemed suspicious to him. He knew people who liked to keep a low profile online, but he still didn't want to take the risk.
There were a lot more legitimate people who were interested in the furniture. Some changed their minds at the last minute, which annoyed him because he took time off from his schedule to meet him. A few others showed up, and either they didn't like what they saw after seeing it up close or wanted to offer him something far below the asking price. Alex was willing to negotiate, but he wasn't going to take any insulting offers.
The latest person who messaged him seemed quite genuine in her interest in the furniture. Her name was Disha, and from her profile, she was a very attractive, dark-skinned Indian woman in her early twenties. Despite the pictures she had with some of her more traditional female family members who wore saree's, she was dressed like most other women her age who grew up in America. She was also had an incredible body, and he couldn't help taking a peek at her bikini pictures.
Going deeper into her profile, he also saw that she mostly dated other Indian guys, but still had a few white boyfriends in the past, which made him wonder if he had a shot with her. Alex dated a few women of other races before; there were always a few cultural differences that came up, but they were still very good relationships. He wasn't going to immediately hit on this woman when she came over, but if had the chance to get to know her a little and the opportunity came up, he was open to the idea of flirting with her or even asking her out.
Disha came around noon, as promised. She showed up in a pickup truck driven by another guy, which disappointed him because he was sure he was Disha's boyfriend. She got out of the truck, and he saw that she was more attractive than her profile pictures. She had long dark hair, wore tight jeans, and a tight red t-shirt that hugged her D-cup tits and was low-cut enough to show a little cleavage on top. She also had multiple ear piercings and a nose ring piercing on her right nostril, which was very traditional for most Indian women.
"You must be, Disha. I'm Alex," he said as he put up his hand.
"Hey Alex," she replied, shaking his hand. "It's nice to meet you."
Alex could hear a slight Indian accent from her. It suggested that she was born in India but came to America when she was young and the accent was fading out.
"That's my boyfriend, Sam, in the truck," she said, referring to the man who drove her here.
"Hey Sam!" Alex called out to him. Sam was hanging back by his pickup truck, and he just nodded at Alex in his own way to say hello.
Alex opened the garage door and showed Disha the furniture. She was surprised they were all in good condition. He explained that his mother was a clean freak, and she was one of those old-fashioned women who liked to put plastic covers on furniture to protect it. She carefully looked at everything and even called Sam to come out of the truck to check it out. Sam was a tall, muscular man with buzzcut hair and several arm tattoos. Alex got a former military vibe from him, which made him realize he better not flirt with Disha unless he wanted to get a major ass-kicking.
Disha liked what she saw, and Sam agreed with her that they were good items for what they were worth. She asked for a slightly lower price on the items, which he agreed to because it seemed reasonable. The only thing he wasn't willing to drop the price too far on was the sofa bed. The rest of the furniture was in good condition but older, so he was giving her a fair price on that. But the sofa bed was one of the newer pieces of furniture his parents bought over the years, and the pullout mattress inside was still in very good condition. He was willing to negotiate for a lower price, but not as low as what Disha was asking for. Eventually she had to turn down the sofa bed, but she was glad that she at least got the rest of the furniture for a good price.
"Are you sure you can't go a little lower on that sofa? I can really use it," she asked in a sultry voice.
She smiled at him and gave him a seductive look. It almost worked; she was a very beautiful woman after all. But he couldn't go any lower just because he had the hots for her.
"I'm sorry, I'd like to give you a deal on it, but it's more expensive than the other items and I just can't do it."
"Ok, at least I tried."
Alex collected the money, and he helped Sam put the furniture in his truck. Afterward, they said their goodbyes, and Alex texted his parents about the sale, which they were happy about. He suggested they lower the price on the sofa bed because it was the only item left that Disha couldn't afford. They agreed to drop it a little, but not by how much Disha was asking for. The next day, he listed the sofa bed on its own and lowered the price. He hoped this would get Disha's attention, and maybe he could see her again. She may have had a boyfriend, but she was a pleasure to be around.
THE CLUB
Two weeks later, Alex went to a baseball game with one of his friends, Jason. He was excited for the game; he had to miss out on two other games that season because of work issues and was excited to finally go to one. Unfortunately, the game wasn't just horrible, it was a complete embarrassment. At the beginning of the 6th inning, Alex's favorite team was losing 14-2. This was a total surprise to everyone in the stadium, considering how well the team had been doing the entire season.
After that inning was over, he had done something that he had never done before at a baseball game, and he and his friend decided to just leave early. They couldn't take the embarrassment anymore and decided not to stick around for any more of it. They weren't the only ones who thought that, as they saw more people in the stadium having the same idea.
Outside the stadium, on the way to the parking lot, a man was passing out flyers to the people leaving the game. They've seen that same guy at other games before passing out the same flyers to a local strip club; apparently, they waive the cover charge if you show them a game ticket.
"You want to go?" Jason asked, "We might as well salvage something from this night."